In this episode of The What It Takes Podcast, host Tuli Kraus sits down with Seth Farbman, entrepreneur, former securities lawyer, and founder of multiple successful companies including SEC filing services, stock transfer operations, and modern LinkedIn marketing agency Share Media.

This is not a typical “startup success story.” It’s a raw, behind-the-scenes conversation about building companies from a basement startup to multi-exit businesses, making millions, losing millions on failed ventures, and learning what actually drives long-term success in business: people, persistence, and purpose.

Seth shares how he went from practicing law in Manhattan to building four companies with his long-time partner, how a chance conversation over Pesach led to a business that scaled to thousands of clients, and how he later transitioned into helping CEOs and public companies grow through LinkedIn marketing and strategic visibility.

If you're an entrepreneur, founder, salesperson, or anyone trying to grow in your career or business, this episode breaks down real-world lessons you won’t get in business school.

• How Seth Farbman transitioned from securities lawyer to serial entrepreneur

• The Pesach conversation that led to building a multimillion-dollar company from a basement

• What it takes to scale a business to 5,000+ customers and 100+ employees

• Why hiring the right people matters more than strategy or product

• The emotional reality of selling a company (and losing identity after exit)

• Earnouts, acquisitions, and what really happens after you “sell” your business

• Lessons from failed ventures like apparel brands and startup experiments

• Why not every great idea is a profitable business

• How LinkedIn became a powerful growth engine for CEOs and public companies

• What separates top-performing employees from average ones

• Sales mindset: why fear kills deals and relationships build revenue

• How persistence (like a candidate showing up 4 times) can change your life

Seth breaks down 30+ years of experience in business and shares brutally honest insights:

• You don’t build companies to sell them — exits often come unexpectedly

• The real value of a business is in relationships, not just revenue

• Employees who take initiative outperform those who just “do their job”

• Introverts can win in business by leading with value first

• Most business failures come from building without real market validation

• Purpose and momentum matter more than comfort or certainty

0:00 The Real Reason Behind Visibility, Clients, and LinkedIn Growth 8:05 From a Basement SEC Filing Company to Two Buyouts 14:24 Purpose, Daymond John, and Finding the Recruiting Niche 20:07 Law School, Marriage, and Becoming a Reluctant Schmoozer 27:08 The Persistence That Got Hired Four Times 33:00 Hat Flops, Weight-Loss Gimmicks, and a Thousand Public Companies

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethfarbman/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sethfarbmanstock/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackbird.recruiting/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuli-kraus/

Hiring the wrong person is expensive — not just financially, but culturally.

Blackbird Recruiting helps growing companies hire people who actually perform, so you can spend less time filtering résumés and more time building your business.

In this episode of the What It Takes Podcast, host Tuli Kraus sits down with Shai Stern — entrepreneur, investor, and advisor — to talk about building multiple companies from scratch, what separates great employees from mediocre ones, and what 30 years in business actually teaches you about people, sales, and showing up.

Shai Stern didn't come from money. He grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, dropped out of YU, got married young, and needed parnassah fast. What followed was four companies built with his partner Seth Farman — starting with a conversation over vintage seltzer on Pesach — that spanned SEC filings, business formations, background checks, and payment processing. He sold them all. And then started again.

Along the way, Shai learned things no business school teaches: how to close your first client when your father's chavrusa thinks you're a fool, how to handle a valued employee who gets poached, why firing people is one of the hardest things he's never gotten good at, and what makes someone like Michelle — his chief of staff for 13-plus years — genuinely irreplaceable.

He's also brutally honest about what he got wrong. Waiting too long to let people go. Trusting people who weren't honest. Letting ambition outrun organizational discipline. This episode is one of the most real, wisdom-packed conversations we've had on this podcast — and it applies whether you're a W-2 employee trying to level up or a founder building something from nothing.

If you're trying to figure out what it actually takes to grow in your career or your business, this one is for you.

◼️ How Shai went from a W-2 employee to building four companies with one partner and zero partnership agreements◼️ The Pesach conversation over vintage seltzer that launched Vintage Filings◼️ What his father taught him about learning before work — and why it stuck for 30 years◼️ The first client rejection that drove him harder than any yes ever could◼️ How he expanded a business to all 50 states in under 60 days using Chabad◼️ What makes Michelle McClosky the best hire he ever made — and what made his worst hire so painful◼️ How COVID nearly destroyed V-Check Global and what saved it◼️ The right way to ask for a raise, handle rejection, and set yourself up for a yes◼️ What separates salespeople who crush it from those who plateau◼️ Why fear has no place in sales — and how to actually get it out of your system.

Chapters:

0:00 Teaneck to Teaneck: Shai's Background, Family & Early Influences7:58 The Pesach Handshake: How Vintage Filings Was Born Over Seltzer15:02 Getting the First Client: Rejection, Persistence & Humble Confidence23:03 Selling Vintage Filings, Building V-Corp & Expanding to All 50 States With Chabad28:30 V-Check Global, COVID & What Happens When Your Business Falls Off a Cliff40:17 Best Hire, Worst Hire & What Loyalty Actually Looks Like in Business55:14 How to Ask for a Raise, Handle Rejection & Make Yourself More Valuable1:09:08 Sales Without Fear: What 30 Years Taught Shai About Relationships & Parnassah

Connect with Shai Stern

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaistern1 Phone: 917-579-3107 Email: stern@gotavi.co Website: gotavi.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackbird.recruiting/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuli-kraus/

Hiring the wrong person is expensive — not just financially, but culturally.

Blackbird Recruiting helps growing companies hire people who actually perform, so you can spend less time filtering résumés and more time building your business.

💡 In This Episode, We Cover:⏱️ Chapters🔗 Connect with Shai Stern🔗 Connect with the Host — Tuli KrausBlackbird Recruiting

In this episode of the What It Takes Podcast, host Tuli Kraus sits down with Aaron Zutler, sales veteran, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Pop Insanity, to talk about learning to sell from the ground up, cracking the big box retail code, and how a popcorn machine that couldn’t be returned ended up becoming a nationwide brand.

Aaron Zutler spent years in the trenches selling small electronics, keyboards, webcams, and peripherals, into some of the toughest buyers in retail: Best Buy, Walmart, and Target-level accounts who eat vendors for breakfast. He learned how to negotiate, how to read a room, and how to get a “yes” from people whose entire job is to say “no.”

Then, almost by accident, he got introduced to a keyboard player making insane popcorn in his kitchen. That introduction, and one non-refundable popcorn machine, led to Pop Insanity, a gourmet kosher popcorn brand that landed on Oprah’s Favorite Things list, got featured on Good Morning America, and eventually earned a starring role on Marcus Lemonis’ show The Fixer.

In this conversation, Aaron breaks down what it actually took, sleeping on a blow-up mattress in Muncie, borrowing money while making two weddings, building a brand with no marketing budget, and staying calm when the website crashed in the middle of Q4 holiday season.

He also gets real about partnerships, hiring, what separates employees who rise from those who stay stuck, and why customer service matters just as much as the product.

If you’re an employee trying to level up, a founder figuring out how to build something from scratch, or someone quietly wondering if your skills could one day work for you, this episode is exactly what you need.

💡 In This Episode, We Cover:

◼️ How Aaron stumbled into sales and why he says it’s the most valuable skill you can have ◼️ The insider breakdown of selling into big box retail (open to buy, end caps, markdown money and more) ◼️ The non-refundable popcorn machine that accidentally started a business ◼️ What the early days of Pop Insanity actually looked like, blow-up mattresses and all ◼️ How Oprah’s team found them at a gift show in Atlanta and what happened next ◼️ Getting on Good Morning America and landing Marcus Lemonis’ The Fixer ◼️ How COVID shifted their entire business model in their favor ◼️ The three things Aaron says you absolutely need in a business partner ◼️ What separates employees who grow fast from those who stay stuck ◼️ Why honesty, initiative, and mavatar (flexibility) matter more than any resume

⏱️ Chapters:

0:00 From Office Work to Closeouts: How Aaron Accidentally Got Into Sales7:45 The Art of Selling: Aggression, Etiquette & What Actually Works21:26 The Popcorn Machine That Started It All: The Origin Story of Pop Insanity29:10 Sleeping in Muncie: Building Pop Insanity From Zero39:41 Oprah’s Favorite Things: Getting Discovered at a Gift Show in Atlanta47:24 The Fixer & The Website Crash Heard Round the Warehouse52:17 COVID, Hiring & What It Actually Takes to Grow Inside a Company

🔗 Connect with Aaron ZutlerLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-zutler

🔗 Connect with the Host - Tuli KrausInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackbird.recruiting/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuli-kraus/

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Blackbird Recruiting

Hiring the wrong person is expensive — not just financially, but culturally.

Blackbird Recruiting helps growing companies hire people who actually perform, so you can spend less time filtering résumés and more time building your business.

If you’re serious about scaling with the right team, visit blackbirdrecruiting.com to learn more.